Three Times the Fun: April 2011

Wow. Where has the time gone? I honestly don't really know what we were doing between March 8th and March 24th - just trying to get by I guess . . .

A,B, G checking out the plane on the way to US

Well, we had a great professional/family trip to Baltimore the end of march. We arrived in Dulles the evening of March 24 after a nice 13 hour flight from Doha to Dulles with the boys. How did they do? I guess it depends on who you ask. I think they did pretty good, considering they are two and a half, they move around non-stop about 10 hours a day, they were in a cramped space between economy seats, etc. Curt says the flight was ROUGH. Now, they NEVER had a meltdown and cried or screamed and they didn't really touch any strangers or wake anyone up. And they really only napped for about an hour and a half out of the flight (when ordinarily by the time we landed they should have slept closer to 6 and a half hours - ouch). But all three were pretty interested in the people sitting behind us and the guy in front of us who reclined his seat ALL THE WAY BACK THE ENTIRE TIME. i nearly let them "touch" him . . . I don't think I have ever crawled around in such a nasty place myself - looking for little toys, little men, etc. We had one rule we used on the flight and one we learned from the flight. Rule #1: No parenting. Unless someone is going to hurt someone else or annoy another passenger. you want your paci? fine. You want to snack on something? fine. You want to watch Dora back to back without (or with) headphones for the 47th time? fine. whatever will make you happy. Rule #2: DON'T bring tiny toys on airplanes. Only giant monster trucks, big stuffed animals, board books, etc. Did i mention i had to crawl around about a million times looking for lost little men??? Boo.

Why didn't we think to put the boys in suitcases for the trip to the US?! (Brady)

Aidan chilling out

I love how Gavin somehow got the smallest of the suitcases!

After our 13 hour flight, we had an hour and a half ride to Baltimore and arrived at our lovely hotel. We had a 2 BR and they provided us with three cribs, already in the room - no waiting! Curt went to get us all Micky Ds' (welcome back to America after being out of the country for 9 months) which the boys barely touched (i guess they have good taste). :) By the time they got into bed, it was 7PM B'more time. and they slept until 5 AM the next morning when Gavin was up and crying. The other two slept the full night. How crazy is that? Anyway, we still experienced some jetlag for them, but not nearly what it was a week later at home. Either way, it was a gentle re-entry for us. hallelujah. Our first day there it was COLD! thank goodness for friends with hand-me-downs! we bundled them up and strapped them in the stroller to get some groceries and fresh air. we also wandered to the inner harbor and then had some friends come visit who were in town for the conference. Grandparents (with the truck) arrived on saturday around lunch time after a trip to the convention center for mom and dad to check in and a visit with Finn, Dave's little girl. Everyone was very excited to see them (mom and dad included - break!). :)

Aidan and Grandma with the Yellow Truck

Wonder what Brady was feeding Grandpa K?

Grandma with Greta gives Gavin a breathing treatment and reads his favorite book. Brady and Gavin had memorized the Curious George books by the time we left!

Grandpa V reads Brady Chicken Licken. Which is what Gavin called his Chicken Noodle soup while we were there.

Grandparents (with Greta) arrived Monday evening around dinner and it was equally rowdy for their welcome! The boys had a trip the the aquarium while mom and dad were at work, spent some time walking around the Inner Harbor area and rode some free buses. all in all a fabulous week with interesting things to see and do. THey showed off their Hawkeye fight song at the Iowa Social and in general experienced a major word explosion for all three. it was delightful to see. :) Here are some pictures from the fun . . .